He relaxed his shoulders and sighed, slowly returning to his station.
‘I’ll meet you outside in five?’ Zola said.
‘Stay.’ Ethan hummed. ‘It must be important. Her eyes are red, and her skin is blotchier than usual.’
Katy glanced down at her pale arms, noticing the red blotches seeping through.
Zola paused, turning to Ethan. She waited until he was fully engrossed in his computer, then spoke. ‘Did you get another message?’ she mumbled under her breath.
Katy nodded, stepped forward, and handed Zola her phone. ‘And, when I was in the toilet, I heard Britney on the phone talking about us. She was moaning to someone about the PR strategy changing and talking about leverage and going on about the fact they had an agreement!’
Zola seemed shocked. ‘An agreement aboutwhat?’
Katy shrugged. ‘I have no idea who she was on the phone with, but it was something about this.’ She nudged her head towards her own phone.
Ethan stood up. ‘Perhaps I’ll let you two talk privately,’ he said, making his way out of the room. As he passed Katy, he attempted a smile.
When the door was closed, Katy divulged her last half-hour sexcapade, her toilet jizz accident, then what she’d heard of Britney’s phone call. Zola paced the room like she’d been listening to an episode ofJeremy Kyle, but Katy knew that even Jeremy and his aftercare team would not be able to sort this shit out.
Zola bit her nails, then turned to Katy. ‘What the fuck? What the actual fuck?’
Katy moaned, shaking. ‘I know, Zola. He was just there, and we were in this wee romantic cupboard and—’
‘Romanticcupboard? Did the Pop Tarts turn you on, babe?’ Zola interrupted, letting out a slow exhale. ‘OK, right. So, we know it’s not Travis. He was there when the text came through, right?’
Katy nodded. ‘Right.’
‘And we know it’s not Jimmy if Britney said on the phone that Ella’s up his arse? Right?’
‘Uh-huh, and we also know it’s not us,’ Katy concluded.
Zola rolled her eyes. ‘No shit, Miss Marple.’ She began pacing again, trying to piece everything together. ‘This is bigger than us creating this app. There’s some seriously shady shit going down in this company, and whoever it is doing the texting wants us to leave it alone. They’re watching us, and not afraid to let us know that.’
Katy seemed startled at the idea. ‘What if they hurt us? What if we don’t leave and they hurt us, Zo?’ Katy’s bottom lip trembled in fear as she whispered, ‘They have guns here!’
Zola wrapped her arms around her. ‘And we have us, working as a team. We need to get one step ahead, like really start digging. We know Britney is involved, and that’s actually good for us. I’ll try to find a way to hack her emails, see what turns up.’
‘We need to tell Ella.’ Katy nodded, her chin on Zola’s shoulder. ‘Let’s go, Zo.’
The two friends headed out of the door and noticed Ethan sitting on a desk outside. Zola jumped, still on edge.
‘Sorry, I thought you’d gone to grab a coffee or something,’ Zola replied, attempting a smile and trying as hard as she could not to seem startled.
Ethan stood up, his eyes on Katy. ‘I only drink coffee at eight a.m.’
‘Right. Well, thanks for giving us the room,’ Zola said, stepping away.
‘How are you doing?’ Ethan asked Katy.
She smiled at him. ‘I’ll be fine, thank you.’
He paused, looking unsure of what to say next.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Ethan,’ Zola said, attempting to end the awkward encounter. She tugged on Katy’s arm, dragging her back towards the main office.
Katy swivelled her head back for a second look. ‘He’s cute.’
‘That’s the most he’s ever spoken to me,’ Zola admitted, a confused look on her face. ‘Now let’s fill Ella in on everything.’
